Lady Eagles take No. 2 playoff seed

The old sports adage about “playing them one at a time” rings true for the Del Oro High girls basketball team as the Lady Eagles ready for the opening of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section’s Div. II playoffs that tipped off this week.
On Sunday, as anticipated, the Lady Eagles were awarded the No. 2 seed for the Div. II playoffs by the section playoff committee. Although the Lady Eagles sat in the No. 1 spot according to the section’s power ratings for the majority of the season, tournament officials moved national power St. Mary’s of Stockton into the No. 1 position.
Del Oro, 22-3 on the season and winners in 14 of its last 15 outings, was slated to open the post season on Tuesday night with a home game against River City. The Raiders are 18-9 on the season and finished in fourth place in the Sierra Valley Conference.
If the Lady Eagles survived their first round test, potential big challenges awaited the Black and Gold in quarter-final action at 7 p.m. tonight in the Bonner Gym, and if still alive, in next Wednesday’s semi-finals at University of Pacific in Stockton.
In tonight’s second round match-up, the possibility of the Lady Eagles facing the Tuesday night winner between Inderkum and Bethel of Vallejo was very intriguing.
Inderkum brings to the tournament an athletic squad that won the Tri-Counties League championship and has fashioned a sparkling 25-2 season record. Like Del Oro, the Tigers feature a balanced attack with seven players averaging more than six points an outing.
Two other formable foes on Del Oro’s side of the bracket include a 26-1 El Camino quad and Rocklin’s Thunder, who at 17-10 secured a No. 6 seed by virtue of its play in the rugged Sierra Foothill League this season.
And then, of course, if the Lady Eagles can weather the preliminary storms, the Rams from St. Mary’s, ranked 10th in the nation by MaxPreps, is most likely the class of the upper bracket with their sights set on a berth in the Div. II finals set for Power Balance Arena at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 5.
~ Staff report
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CIF SAC-JOAQUIN SECTION GIRLS DIVISION II PLAYOFFS
First Round
Upper Bracket
St. Mary’s vs. Los Banos
Florin vs. Woodcreek
Antelope vs. Benicia
Bella Vista vs. Rio Linda
Lower Bracket
El Camino vs. Central Valley
Rocklin vs. Vacaville
Inderkum vs. Bethel
Del Oro vs. River City